page_title: Interstate 95 in New Jersey
section_title: Routing through Central New Jersey:  Somerset Freeway
hierarchical_section_title: Interstate 95 in New Jersey / History / Routing through Central New Jersey:  Somerset Freeway
caption_attribution_description: Southbound Interstate 95 at bridge under CSX's Trenton Subdivision in Ewing Township, New Jersey. The bridge still has a sign for Conrail, the former owner of the railroad line.
context_page_description: Interstate 95 is a major Interstate Highway that traverses nearly the full extent of the East Coast of the United States, from Florida to Maine. In the state of New Jersey, it runs along much of the mainline of the New Jersey Turnpike, as well as the Pearl Harbor Memorial Extension, and the New Jersey Turnpike's I-95 Extension to the George Washington Bridge for a total of 77.96 mi. Located in the northeastern part of the state near New York City, the 11.03-mile Western Spur of the New Jersey Turnpike, considered to be Route 95W by the New Jersey Department of Transportation, is also part of I-95.
  I-95 enters the state from the Pennsylvania Turnpike on the Delaware River–Turnpike Toll Bridge, following the length of the Pearl Harbor Memorial Extension to exit 6 on the New Jersey Turnpike mainline, continuing north along the remainder of the latter road to U.S. Route 46, where it continues as the turnpike's I-95 Extension to the George Washington Bridge, on which it enters New York. All of I-95 in New Jersey is maintained by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority except for the George Washington Bridge, which is maintained by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
context_section_description: The location of I-95 in the Trenton area had not been finalized when the route was first designated. The BPR preferred using the Trenton Freeway (US 1 and Route 174), which was completed to Whitehead Road, but New Jersey and Pennsylvania proposed using the Scudder Falls Bridge and its approach (Route 129), opened in 1961 to Scotch Road, due in part to low design standards of the Trenton Freeway. As a result, I-95 was routed to use the Scudder Falls Bridge approach. The approach to the Scudder Falls Bridge was extended in 1974, northeast to the planned interchange with the new I-95 freeway, and then east to US 1 as I-295.
  From the I-95/I-295 loop around Trenton, the free routing of I-95 in New Jersey, was to divert from the loop between the Route 31 and Federal City Road exits in Hopewell Township. Then, the highway was to intersect County Route 546 (CR 546) and US 206 before coming to I-287 in Piscataway Township. There was also meant to be a small connector roughly one mile in length connecting I-95 with I-287 from the north and designated I-695. (The I-695 designation, along with I-95's alignment in Piscataway Township, was dropped when I-695's own alignment became the preferred routing for I-95 to a full 3-way interchange with I-287 in Franklin Township.)
  At this point, the freeway would have continued northeastward through the western parts of Elizabeth and Newark, then terminate at the northern terminus of the New Jersey Turnpike at Ridgefield, but it was instead decided to route I-95 along the New Jersey Turnpike through North Jersey.
  The truncated route, known as the Somerset Freeway, was intended to terminate in Piscataway Township at I-287, and I-95 would have continued east along I-287 until it intersected with the New Jersey Turnpike in Edison Township. Both the Somerset Freeway and I-695 were projected to cost $55 million in 1967, with the cost increasing to $375 million in 1979. At this point, residents in Hopewell Township, Princeton, and Montgomery Township raised opposition out of the fear the Somerset Freeway would bring unwanted development to area farmland. NJTA joined environmental and community groups in opposing the Somerset Freeway, as it would provide a toll-free alternative to the New Jersey Turnpike. Due to this opposition, New Jersey Governor Brendan Byrne announced in 1980 that the state would not build the Somerset Freeway.  The United States Congress officially cancelled the Somerset Freeway by way of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982, rerouting I-95 south on the New Jersey Turnpike to exit 6, and onto its Pennsylvania Extension to end at the state line on the Delaware River–Turnpike Toll Bridge, pending the construction of an interchange where the Pennsylvania Turnpike crossed existing I-95 in Pennsylvania. As a result of this cancellation, the federal government gave New Jersey $246 million for road projects in the area where the Somerset Freeway was to be built.
  In 1995, increasing truck traffic on US 206 and Route 31 motivated officials in Mercer County to have the state reconsider building the Somerset Freeway as a way to alleviate traffic on area roads. This option was ruled out due to a $700 million price tag. Also around this time, I-95 was extended east along I-295 between the site of the Somerset Freeway interchange and US 1 in Lawrence Township.
caption: Former I-95 southbound (now I-295 northbound) in Ewing Township
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